'Nobody wants it': Lettuce prices see record-setting plunge as cyclospora spooks consumers

Lettuce prices cratered in July as the multistate cyclospora outbreak pushed diners to shun the leafy green.

Prices for the vegetable tumbled 16.4% from June, the largest one-month decline on record, according to seasonally adjusted data released Wednesday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Lettuce also posted the sharpest month-over-month deflation within the consumer price index 's food category in July, which saw overall prices tick up 0.1% in the period.

"It's very likely due to the cyclospora outbreak and consumers just not wanting to buy lettuce right now," said Jeremy Horpedahl, an associate economics professor at the University of Central Arkansas. The "consumer is just wanting to stay away from this product."

July's declines pulled lettuce prices off all-time highs posted this summer. But lettuce prices are still up around 7.5% in July compared with a year ago, more than double the pace of price growth seen across the closely followed CPI basket.

Lettuce's run-up before this month was driven by the Iran war boosting fertilizer prices and President Donald Trump 's mass deportations resulting in increased labor costs for U.S. farms.

This recent boom-and-bust price cycle may remind consumers of the cost fluctuations in eggs over recent years, Horpedahl said. While prices initially surged as the bird flu drove down supply, costs have since fallen drastically this year.

The Food and Drug Administration called out iceberg lettuce processed at a Taylor Farms facility in central Mexico as the likely ground zero for the waterborne parasite's recent spread. Taylor Farms voluntarily recalled products coming from that location.

Several chains with lettuce in menu items reported a drop in traffic due to consumer concerns about the outbreak, even if they didn't have contaminated supplies.